Mudassir Sheikha-CEO and Co-Founder of Careem
Careem is a Dubai-based super app with operations in over 100 cities, covering 12 countries across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia regions. The company, valued at over US$2 billion in 2018, became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uber after being acquired for $3.1 billion in January 2020. Careem expanded into the food delivery business with Careem Now in November 2018 and launched a digital payment platform, Careem Pay, in April 2022.
Mudassir started his career with Trilogy Software before joining San Francisco-based mobile experience startup Brience at the height of the dot-com bubble in March 2000. Mudassir then joined the founding team of mobile testing and monitoring startup DeviceAnywhere, where among other things, he led its offshore development centre in Pakistan. Keynote Systems acquired DeviceAnywhere, and Mudassir joined the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company in Dubai.
Amir Barsoum, Founder and CEO of Vezeeta
Amir Barsoum is the Founder and CEO of Vezeeta. This leading digital healthcare platform offers patients a personalized, end-to-end healthcare experience from diagnosis to delivery of ongoing care and medications.
Recognized as one of Fortune’s 40 under 40 global healthcare leaders in 2020, Amir helped pave the path for Vezeeta to become one of the fastest-growing health tech startups in the Middle East and Africa region and guided the expansion within the B2B landscape, with a growing footprint in North America, and Southeast Asia.
Tapping into a US$ 1.1 trillion outpatient opportunity, Barsoum envisioned and brought to life the disruptive model of Vezeeta in 2012, which is designed to empower patients through data and technology and eliminate the most tedious tasks in every step of their healthcare journey. Vezeeta seamlessly connects multiple stakeholders within the healthcare ecosystem to offer a one-stop-shop solution for all patients and make their experience a delightful one. This very vision earned Vezeeta multiple prestigious titles, including ‘The Most Innovative Company in the Middle East by Fast Company. With the help of more than 200,000 verified and reviewed reviews, patients can search, compare, and book with the best doctors instantly. Doctors can also provide an easy and hassle-free healthcare experience, thanks to Vezeeta. Clinic Management Organization Program Vezeeta currently operates in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Levant, UAE, Kenya, and Nigeria.
Abdallah Abu-Sheikh – Founder of RIZEK
Abdallah Abu-Sheikh is one of the top serial entrepreneurs in the MENA region and a global keynote speaker. He is globally renowned for launching ground-breaking future-ready platforms centered on sustainability, mobility, and digitalization, led by unconventional strategies and strong business ethics.
As the Co-Founder and CEO of Astra Tech, a UAE-based technology investment and development group, Abdallah are spearheading the launch of a revolutionary new ‘ultra-platform’, which will bring together selected consumer technologies, products, and services. It is specifically designed to address the ‘platform fatigue’ many users are experiencing today.
Abdallah also leads BARQ, a first-of-its-kind tech-driven network of electric vehicles built to serve the MENA region’s last-mile delivery sector. As the Co-Founder and CEO of BARQ, he heads a team that offers ground-breaking solutions to address the transport industry’s much-needed demand for efficiency, comfort, and rider safety. BARQ EV has been well-recognized as the first-ever licensed drone delivery service in the UAE.
